- Posted by John on February 5, 2008
Obama, Mitt, Rudy, Hillary and Ed? When you hear about “Ed in ‘08” during this political season, you might ask yourself if Ed is one of those candidates polling around 1%. Ed though actually isn’t a person; rather, it is short for “Education.” Ed in ‘08 is a nonpartisan public awareness campaign to promote education as an issue during the 2008 elections.
How big is Ed? It’s $60 million big, already. If Ed were a real candidate, $60 million would put him in fourth place in fundraising among all actual 2008 Presidential candidates. Only Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and Mitt Romney would outpace Ed.
Ed in ’08 stands as the largest single-issue initiative ever in a presidential race, outpacing the $22.4 million that the Swift Vets and P.O.W.s for Truth group spent in 2004.
According to Jonathan Prince, deputy campaign manager for John Edwards, Ed in '08 has been ``a strong presence out there in the field in the key primary states.” In other words, expect Ed to be a force during this election cycle.
Ed’s Goals
So now that we know Ed in ‘08 is determined to make their voice hear during 2008, exactly what are the campaign’s goals? According to their official site, the goals are:
We want a serious nationwide debate on education reform where every presidential candidate addresses three priorities that hold great promise for improving education:
· Agreeing on American education standards
· Providing effective teachers in every classroom
· Giving students more time and support for learning
The push will come from TV and radio ads in battleground states. The campaign also airs its ads on YouTube including the one below featuring Kanye West:
Who is Behind the Campaign?
For starters, Bill Gates. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation recently donated $30 million, or half, of the campaign’s money. The foundation behind the campaign is Strong American Schools. The chairman of Strong American Schools is former Democratic governor of Colorado and most recently superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District.
Conclusion
The timing of the push coincides with the recently released PISA (Program for International Student Assessment) which shows further declines by the American students compared to other countries. Given every three years, the results showed the United States dropped to ranking 21st in science and 25th in math of the 30 sponsor countries.
So will you be voting for Ed in ’08? You might explore the resources at from the League of Women Voter’s at http://www.vote411.org/ to find where candidates sit on education and other issues in both the Presidential and local elections.
Sources:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/25/education/25schools.html?_r=1&ex=1178164800&en=64c526e2221ce366&ei=5070&emc=eta1&oref=slogin
http://www.edin08.com/
http://www.opensecrets.org/pres08/index.asp?cycle=2008
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=axlS9ALgtlUg&refer=us
http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2008016
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071217/OPINION03/712170307/-1/NEWS04